109 the new telecom management a leap in efficiency

8/13/2019 109 the New Telecom Management a Leap in Efficiency

1/352 EBR #1 2009

strategythe new telecom management

THE TELECOMmarket is changing fasterand faster. For years operators have neededquick solutions to cope with growing net-work and market demands; in response,they adopted a slew of new technologiesand systems to expand capacity and mar-ket share. echnological advances were thepriority, with little or no time for consoli-

dating back office systems, for steppingback, for looking at the bigger picture.

Tat time has come.Many markets are both maturing lead-

ing to lower profit margins and a greater

need for efficiency in core businesses andseeing the entry of many new competitors

that blend capabilities from the telecom,media and internet worlds. Te all worldis racing to reality, with bundled services

and , among other developments. Tismarket transition requires complete net-work as well as telecom management trans-

formations and consolidations, with a focuson faster time to market for new differenti-ating services as well as on the customers

usage experience.Yet this is not an easy task for operators

with hundreds of legacy systems all work-ing on separate tracks. Facing changingconsumer and technological demands,companies are often stuck with costly tele-com management systems and processesthat fulfill neither their current nor futureneeds.

For elefnica in Latin America, theproblem was revenue leakage from its

range of different systems. -Mobile inGermany wanted a partner to consult onongoing and future transformations. Whileat Ericssons own network operation cent-ers, the company must perform a completetelecom management transformation witheach new network that it takes on to run,in order to bring it into line with Ericssonbest practices.

Tese are daunting tasks, but we seehope. A proper telecom managementtransformation can turn this patchwork li-ability into an efficient tool for both cut-ting costs and generating revenue.

Tis requires a change in mindset. A

broader business view must now drive sys-tems and processes management, not tech-nology. Most operators do recognize thischallenge and opportunity but remainunsure how to proceed. And there is nosilver bullet.

But we are confident that with a strongcommitment from the very top of the or-

ganization, and the help of both a holisticbusiness architecture approach and atrusted telecom management vendor, op-erators can adopt a methodology to helpwith the transformations their new busi-ness situations demand.

DEFININGYOURSTARTINGPOINT

Over the years, almost every new technol-ogy or service has come with its own pur-pose-built management system. Operatorsmay well have deployed hundreds of thesesupport systems, and the systems usually

do their specific jobs well.But this also means that operators endup with a patchwork of systems that is dif-ficult to impossible to integrate. Now whenoperators try to compete in the marketwith, say, triple or quadruple play, theyneed to provide a single offering, with asingle customer care center.

However, beyond this relentless rush ofthe all- network and new competitionfrom all sides, there are three primarytypes of market conditions mature mar-kets, maturing markets and growth mar-kets each with its own drivers for

change.In mature markets, operators need more

efficient operations. Everyone in the mar-ket has similar offerings, and it is hard tocompete only on price. Businesses in thesemarkets must focus more on their corebusiness efficiency and innovation.

In contrast, in maturing markets, opera-tors must attract new users and offer newservices, while in growth markets, the fo-cus remains squarely on new users.

In each case, the drawbacks of an opera-tors old mix of management systems which often is cumbersome to integratewith wider enterprise-management sys-

The new telecom management a leap in efficiencyBy applying a hlistic view n tls, prcesses and rganizatin, peratrs can transfrm their BSS/oSSsystems into an integrated business toolfr cmpetitive dierentiatin and ecient peratins. But its

nt an easy task. A clear methdlgy and step-wise apprach is needed.


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the new telecom managementstrategy

tems now come at a high price. Somesystems perform overlapping functionswith inconsistent data. Tis causes realtrouble for operators, potentially leading toineffective process management, high costof ownership for operations centers and

long delays when launching new servicessuch as .But addressing a / transformation

is not only about eliminating negatives. Inan all- network, a streamlined, coherentmanagement system is necessary to pro-vide a wide variety of multimedia offer-ings. While each operator has a uniquecollection of systems, they all strive for ef-ficient operations, and the clearest pathstowards that goal are decreasing costs, en-suring high quality service, maximizingrevenues and establishing a trusted and re-liable brand.

By ridding itself of systems, processesand organizational stovepipes, an opera-tor can achieve these goals, providing flexi-bility to support fast introduction of newservice, lower costs and a leaner operation.In this way, an efficient operation is notonly a competitive differentiator but also arevenue generator.

ONESTEPATATIME

Companies can not consolidate hundredsof systems and processes overnight. Tetransformation must evolve step by step,focusing on areas with the fastest payoff,with the target architecture, or masterplan, as a final goal. And these questionsshould be addressed in conjunction with avendor with expertise in end-to-end com-munications solutions, a partner with anexplicit brief to examine and change howthings are done.

Tere is no one example of a full / transformation. Each operator has sig-nificantly different needs and different sys-tems. One may be an , while anothermay own its entire network. Te transfor-mation strategy will be largely determined

by the operators existing assets and specif-ic business model.

It is hard to go through these changesalone. An experienced and focused partnercan help operators to make the transfor-mation smoother and more efficient, whilecutting costs. Tis partner should offer abroad portfolio of products, both for build-ing management systems from scratch andfor partial transformations. Te breadth ofthese strengths is often a differentiator inthe / transformation market.

In Latin America Ericsson is workingwith elefnica on two of the three prima-ry transformation strengths business

consulting and systems integration forthe operators fixed and mobile LatinAmerican operations.

Ericsson is providing elefnica with fi-nancial-risk evaluation and revenue assur-ance life-cycle management, as well as sys-

tems integration services such as a cus-tomized revenue assurance solution. Oneof the primary goals with elefnica was torecover leaking revenue. Tis is not easy.An operator might have to systemsinvolved in collecting revenue rangingfrom provisioning to credit checks, frominvoicing to monitoring service levelagreements.

Each revenue-related system was ana-lyzed one by one together with the opera-tors current processes and then used les-sons from previous projects to create inno-vative solutions to recover the leaking rev-

enue. Te goals in this area were exceededby more than percent.

Perhaps the best case of a telecom man-agement transformation is right in ourbackyard at the Ericsson Network Opera-tion Centers (:) where Ericsson man-ages networks with more than millionsubscribers across the globe. Some centersare devoted to a single customer, but six run multiple networks in order togain efficiencies of scale.

Every time that Ericsson takes on a newnetwork, it follows a stepwise methodolo-

gy to transform the operations towards thetarget architecture, acting on its own totransform many systems and processesinto a cohesive unit. Te buildup be-gan in with more than people ini-tially devoted to the transformationprojects, each one addressing all three cor-nerstones of general telecom managementtransformation organization, processesand systems.

One good example of a transforma-tion is the implementation of Ericssonstrouble ticket solution. Tis increased theaccuracy of ticket information, which

helped front office personnel solve per-cent of reported incidents. Also, whenEricsson integrates a new operator into a, it has been estimated that its targetarchitecture has reduced integration ef-forts by about percent.

PICKINGTHE RIGHTAREAS

Within the greater transformation pro-gram, operators and their vendors mustidentify strategic transformation areas,such as problem and change management,revenue assurance practice, service-centricmonitoring based on service models, cus-tomer product/experience management or

The OSS/BSS market is a fragmentedone with a vast number of differentOSS/BSS products available from sev-

eral vendors, as well as the services ofconsulting and systems integrationcompanies that help drive and per-form OSS/BSS transformations.

Transforming its OSS/BSS and oper-ations is typically an integral part of anoperators complete transformation oftheir network and technology andoverall business. The largest competi-tor for telecom services consulting,systems integration, training, managedservices and support is the operatorsthemselves, as they perform most oftheir own telecom management trans-formations. BT, for example, feels it hasgained so much internal knowledge

on the subject that it is also marketingits services externally.

Yet managed services is also an im-portant option for operators insteadof running all of their operations them-selves, they often outsource some orall of the work to an external company.And the current world financial crisiscould make operators more likely toshift their spending to external part-ners

The competition for the telecomservices market as a whole comes fromall over the business map, from bothtelecom management product ven-

dors and telecom services companies.The telecom services competitioncan be divided into five primary sec-tors:

Telecom equipment vendors such asEricsson, Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia Sie-mens Networks and Huawei.IS/IT players offering products andservices such as HP and IBMIS/IT-only players such as Accenture,Atos Origin and CapGeminiIS/IT players that are purely offshore,usually in India, such as Infosys andWipro TechnologiesIndependent telecom services com-panies such as Relacom, GTL and

Bechtel

A fragmented market


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strategythe new telecom management

service agility. o do this, they must startby looking at the business objectives need-ed to reach the companys strategic vision.Often operators do not have a clear strate-gic vision and may need help from a part-ner to craft that vision. Tese business ob-

jectives will then help determine the stra-tegic transformation areas. Te planningprocess for each transformation area mustaddress total cost of ownership, operation-al expenditure and time-to-market. Testeps of the transformation might also tar-get business objectives as systems consoli-dation, operational efficiency and opera-tions readiness in any combination.

Te foundation of every strategic trans-formation areas must be well-documentedtarget management architecture. Te tar-get architecture must cover three aspects:business processes based on industry-

standard business process frameworkssuch as e or the model; tools and with clearly defined roles for each prod-uct suite installed in a complete systemslandscape; and the people and organiza-tion.

Te people part of the target architec-ture is particularly important. For all thetalk of systems and software, the most crit-ical aspect of any transformation is com-municating with and inspiring employees.If you change the network to drive busi-ness, you also need to change the organi-zation. Te easiest thing is to change thesystem; the hardest and therefore themost critical is to change the mindset ofthe people and get them committed to, forinstance, a new way of working.

Any type of change affects the peoplewho work with the network. If they are noton board, you dont succeed.

But knowing what to transform is onlypart of the story. Te transformation mustactually take place with a clear vision forthe entire organization. A / trans-formation is a continuous process, bestmanaged within a defined program setup.

Te stakes are high for telecom opera-tors. Teir business and technologicallandscapes are becoming ever more com-plex, with service providers joining withnetwork providers to deliver new consum-er services. But upgrading networks with-out a / transformation will onlycause operators even more pain. Te needfor an efficient telecom management ispressing.

But a telecom management transforma-tion is also lengthier and more complexthan anything most operators have experi-enced with their / environments.Te process can lead to tremendous bene-

fits. Operators willing to take the risks tochange will position themselves as strongcompetitors in an all-IP future. We havefound that these transformations are bestaccomplished with a proven vendor andchange agent, who can take a holistic view

and implement a specific step-by-stepmethodology that avoids dangerous pitfallsand guides operators from a patchworkpast to a converged future.

AUTHORS

Anders Sjmanhas been

working at Ericsson since

. He has held several

positions in the Telecom

Management area, ranging

from technical trainer and solution architect to tele-

com management consultant. Sjman is currently

working as Strategic Solution Manager for Telecom

Management Solutions at Ericsson Global Services.([email protected])

Fredrik Ljungblomworks

with Strategic Marketing at

Ericsson Global Services. He

has more than years in

the telecom industry with

management experience in R&D, product manage-

ment, sales, and business development. He has an

MSc from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stock-

holm. ([email protected])

Stefan bergworks as

Strategic Solution Manager

for Telecom Management at

Ericsson Global Services. He

has more than years in

the telecom industry and has held several positions

ranging from product development to responsibility

for tools and IT in Ericssons network operations. For

the past few years, berg has been involved in creat-

ing Ericssons Prime Integration offering for Telecom

Management. ([email protected])

109 the new telecom management a leap in efficiency

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